The magic of the FA Cup was truly alive as Ilford pulled off an upset with a 3-2 victory over Isthmian North side Barking says manager Adam Peek.

Goals from Lee Sharpe, Rachid Qist and Ellis Leveridge sealed victory for the Foxes despite the Blues almost clawing their way back into the contest thanks to Charlie Heatley and Charlie MacDonald.

The win saw Ilford bag £1,444 in prize money, which will help them massively according to Peek.

“Not just for the team, but for the club it was a remarkable day because of what it means financially, and it’s a local derby as such,” he said.

“Barking have got a big history like us and to overcome a step four side when no one gave us a chance was, as they say, the true magic of the cup.

“It was an unbelievable day, if you see the photos and the videos, you can see how much it meant to the boys and everybody involved.

“We’re still getting over it, but we’ve got league games, so we must move on.”

Sharp opened the scoring in the seventh minute but his goal was cancelled out by Charlie Heatley in the 25th minute.

Barking full-back Jay Leader was sent off on the stroke of half-time to reduce the Blues to 10 men.

Qist and Leveridge then netted in the 57th and 83rd minute respectively to make it 3-1 before Barking got another one back through MacDonald in the 86th minute to give them a fighting chance.

“We set out to be difficult to beat, then when they went down to 10 men we were brave, changed the system to go for the game, and it worked for us," added Peek.

“The boys have to take a lot of credit because they took on instructions, they were disciplined, and they worked hard.

“It also shows the quality we’ve got in the squad and we need to take that into the league now.”

The Foxes have been drawn at home to Aveley in the first qualifying round of the competition which is due to be played on Saturday, September 4.

“We’re delighted with a home tie, that makes a big difference to us, both financially as we know they’ll bring a good crowd," said Peek.

“We’ve got a few league games before that so we’ll worry about it when it comes around. We’ll be underdogs and we’ll be ready when it does come around.”

Ilford are due to face Clapton in the league on Wednesday and then also Enfield on Saturday.